Seven Hills Creates Water Management Task Force

Earlier this year my administration put together a Water Management Task Force. We felt that it was time to bring relevant people into one room to address, what in some cases, has been a decades long problem. This approach is consistent with how we have addressed important issues over the last few years; perform due diligence to identify the root issues and bring in subject matter experts to provide guidance.

The mission of the Task Force was to develop short and long-term plans to remediate water-related issues, identify and prioritize specific projects that will lead to the rehabilitation of the sewer systems and other control measures to minimize flooding.

The committee was comprised of myself and the following members: Councilman John Kulju, Chief of Staff Kristin Saban, Service Director Jack Johnson, City Engineer Daniel Collins, Assistant City Engineer Mark Schmitzer, Scott Belz (Engineering consultant from AECOM) and Sewer Department representatives Sue Oyster and Mike Vano.  West Creek Conservancy’s Pete Bode contributed as a technical adviser.

We synergized our efforts with other agencies, such as the NEORSD, West Creek Conservancy, Cuyahoga County Public Works and others.

The committee has made recommendations on the following major components of the City’s 55+ year old sewer and drainage system.

• Preventive maintenance of the City’s storm and sanitary sewers

• Rehabilitation of the City’s storm water control measures

• Improve / repair the City’s existing storm and sanitary sewers

• Address public and private property infiltration and outflow (I/I, cross-connection) issues

Included in our overall plan is Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) Hemlock Creek Bank Stabilization Project. This $4 million project is designed to improve stream function and create a natural floodplain that will help divert water flow during large rain events. {insert picture}.

Additionally, the committee created the framework for public education platforms, potential partnerships and researched funding / economic assistance programs that will be essential in carrying out our mission.

The full list of the committee’s findings to date and a video of the committee presenting our finding to Seven Hills Council’s Public Works Committee can be found at:  

http://www.sevenhillsohio.org/en-US/water-management-task-force-2020.aspx

The presentation is just the start of what will be our on-going efforts to remediate this long-standing issue. That said, I believe we have established a good blueprint to follow going forward.